Dales Pony Society Vacancy – Honorary General Secretary
The Dales Pony Society, a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, is seeking to appoint an Honorary General Secretary, reporting to the Chair of Council. The Society currently has approximately 520 members, maintains its own stud book and registers, and licenses all approved Dales Pony Stallions. It runs a Spring and a Summer breed show, a Foal and Yearling show, an Annual Points Scheme and Area shows, occasional Pleasure Rides and Driving Rallies. Newsletters and a Yearbook are published for Members during the year.
The Honorary General Secretary is responsible for providing a communication, development and administration service, working alongside the Honorary Registration Secretary who administers the breeding and registration services. Main duties include taking meeting minutes, maintaining and developing breed literature, distributing newsletters and magazines when appropriate, liaising with Area Group Leaders, and updating the website and Facebook pages.
An honorarium of £5500 per annum is payable, rising to £6,000 on satisfactory completion of 6 months service. The role is self employed and home based. A Society laptop computer, printer and mobile phone will be provided for business use.
Main Requirements for the role
- Excellent interpersonal skills and able to interact with a wide range of people
- Excellent experience of all Microsoft Office applications, especially Word, Excel & Outlook
- Be hard working and conscientious
- Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise work and work calmly under pressure
- Ability to problem solve with a proactive approach with the ability to adapt style and approach to achieve effective outcomes
- Ability to work flexibly with a “can-do” attitude
- Ability to work confidentially and to treat issues with sensitivity
- Ability to work to a very high level of accuracy
- Demonstrate good commercial awareness
- Able to travel to meetings
- Have a working knowledge of the Zoom virtual meeting software
- Have a working knowledge of website and Facebook page maintenance
- Have a working knowledge of business accounting software
Desirable but not essential
- Experience of using the Grassroots database
- Experience of Xero software
- Experience of publishing software
- Sound knowledge of the Dales Pony breed and history
- Dales Pony Society Member
Person Specification click here
To apply for the positions please email a CV and covering letter to Lindsay Knight at treasurer@dalespony.org. The closing date for applications is Friday 24th July 2026 at 9am. Interviews will be held in Barnard Castle on Friday 31st July 2026.